Be willing to take reasonable risks

Be willing to take reasonable risks

Human beings, by nature, seek safety, predictability, and freedom from fear. But humans also pursue risk. A totally secure life would be a boring one. To grow as a person and improve your quality of life means being prepared to take some chances.

What we are talking about is a willingness to take sensible risks in order to get more out of life and avoid the distress of boredom, listlessness and dissatisfaction. Here are some example areas of risk-taking that relate to increasing your discomfort-tolerance:

• Learning new things which may challenge existing beliefs.
• Tackling tasks which have no guarantee of success.
• Trying new relationships.
• Doing things that risk the disapproval of other people.

Here are some suggestions for increasing your willingness to take risks:

• Exposure is a key technique for practising risk-taking. Develop a list of things you would like to try, such as:
  - Asking someone for something - like a date or favour - where there is a chance of rejection.
  - Doing something where there is a chance others will disapprove - for example, speaking up and telling a group of people what you think.
  - Trying something where there is no guarantee of success.
• Put one item a day into practice. As you do so, remind yourself that the discomfort involved is not intolerable, and that staying with it will gradually increase your tolerance.
• You can prepare yourself for taking risks and cope with the discomfort involved using rational self-analysis, coping rehearsal, the blow-up technique, and role-playing.